


The Unlucky Few

by Elo556



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, I make no promises but some wolfstar :), Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), jily
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:28:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29763783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elo556/pseuds/Elo556
Summary: Do you love the marauders? Great me too! I wrote the first few chapters of this as a passion project for myself but decided to share it. This follows the years of the marauders from James' point of view. All the euphoria and heartbreak that comes with growing up, with the added element of living at a magical boarding school, and eventually fighting in a war.
Relationships: James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. James Potter

**Author's Note:**

> Wow! First chapter! Exciting! I hope you enjoy :)

The summer of 1971 was drawing to a close. Families were out enjoying the serene summer evening, and the usually quiet London Suburb was buzzing with life.

On the front lawn of one of the nicest houses in the neighborhood lay a young boy.  
He was propped up against an apple tree, reading a book. His eyes moved behind his glasses as he carefully scanned the page. He was skinny with dark unruly hair. His clothes were nice and tidy and his face had tanned from spending a summer outside.

James Potter had spent most of his vacation in the back garden practicing his favorite sport. The back yard was surrounded by a tall hedge all around. So he was free to practice riding his broomstick, without worrying about one of his muggle neighbors accidentally catching a glimpse of a flying 11-year-old.

“James, Honey, do you have your letter? I want to go over the list one more time, to make sure we get everything tomorrow.” His mother had approached him. Euphemia could easily have been mistaken for his grandmother, her hair was already fully grey and her face was lined with wrinkles.

“Don’t worry mum. Got it right here.”James pulled out a piece of paper he had been using as a bookmark and handed it to his mother. She read through it quickly.

“It’s a shame you can’t bring your broom, sweetheart.” She shook her head slightly.

“It’s fine really, I reckon I’ll be busy - might have to wait a year or so before I join the quidditch team.” James nodded his head thoughtfully.

“Well either way make sure you’re well-rested for tomorrow - it’s going to be an exciting day”

His mother kissed his cheek and turned back into the house.

James dropped his book in the slightly yellowing grass and slipped his body down, so he was lying flat on his back looking up into the sparsely clouded sky which had now adopted a pinkish hue. _It really is going to be an exciting day tomorrow,_ he thought to himself. Shopping for your first year at Hogwarts was important business.

\-------

James woke up unusually early the next morning. The sun was pouring into his bedroom from a small gap between his curtains. His bedroom was impressive, decked out in quidditch posters and magical photographs on the wall space that wasn’t used for storing magical trinkets.

He glanced at the watch on his bedroom wall. It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet - far too early for summer vacation. But the excitement of going to Diagon Ally kept him from falling back asleep. He rolled out of his bed, stretched, and began taking off his pajamas. He could already smell his mother cooking breakfast and his stomach growled.

Downstairs he joined his parents for breakfast in the kitchen. His father was sitting reading The Daily Prophet at the table. Like his wife, Fleamont Potter was quite elderly. He bore half-rimmed glasses, and although his hair was grey he had an impressive black mustache. He folded the newspaper and gestured for his son to join him beside him at the table. James happily complied.

“D’you reckon we can go to Ollivander’s first?” James asked his father whilst shoveling scrambled eggs onto his plate.

“Of course we can. A wand is the most important tool for the wizard after all.”

James ate his breakfast, and after telling his mother thrice that he indeed did not want a third helping, the little family was finally ready to leave for Diagonally.

The easiest way for them to travel was definitely by the Floo Network, so they all huddled in the fireplace. Fleamont grabbed a handful of Floo powder from a large ornate bowl on the mantel. A flash of green fire engulfed them and within a second they stepped out into the Leaky Cauldron.

James had split from his parents outside Ollivander’s (they had both assured him several times that they would be back within the hour), and now It was time for the most important purchase of the day.

The inside of the shop was extremely crammed and boxes upon boxes of wands were stacked everywhere. Ollivander appeared behind the counter,

“Welcome, welcome. A young man I see - you must be going to Hogwarts soon I presume?”  
He stared intensely at James.

“Yes!” James said excitedly, “Heard I might need a wand when I’m there.”

“Of course, of course,” Ollivander was already pulling a box out from a tall stack.

“This one might do.” The old man handed the wand to James, who did a small flick of the wrist and a stack of papers flew off the counter and scattered all around the store.

“Hmmm.. not that one I see,” With a flick of his own wand Ollivander made the papers fly back to their original position. He handed James another wand, but this one barely reacted when James tried using it.

After about a dozen wands James was handed a beautifully carved wand. As soon as he held it in his hand he felt as though a limb he never knew was missing had grown back.

“Interesting,” Ollivander exclaimed. “Eleven inches, Mahogany, pliable … Quite powerful for transfiguration.”

“Brilliant.”

Both James’ parents were waiting outside, his father had already bought all his books, and his mother had bought what looked like Amanuensis Quills’ entire stock of parchment, ink, and quills.

“Time for robe fitting!” Euphemia exclaimed when James emerged outside. She grabbed James by the hand and guided him through the cobbled stoned street until they reached Madam Malkins.

She saw his dissatisfied expression and kissed his cheek, “When you’re done here you can run amok in Quality Quidditch Supplies with your father.” She padded him on the back and ushered him into the store.

The fitting wasn’t actually _that_ bad, and Euphemia’s promise was kept. Fleamont followed James to Quality Quidditch Supplies, where James did indeed get to have a free pick of any and all items. He chose new flying gloves, a new pair of self-cleaning goggles, and a pair of magical growing quidditch boots.

As they were leaving the store they bumped into someone Fleamont apparently knew. A tall very serious-looking man was standing outside, he looked as though he was impatiently waiting for someone.

“Orion.” Fleamont sounded somewhat surprised at the sight of the man. James thought he could sense by the slight coldness in his father's tone that he was not on friendly terms with the stranger.

The stranger looked at James’ dad and then glanced quickly in the other direction before answering, “Fleamont Potter. What a pleasure.” Despite his words, the man sounded snobbish and unfriendly.

“I hear you’ve begun working closely with the ministry.”

The man curled his lip slightly, “Well since your … well-deserved retirement, I have stepped in as a representative for _our_ kind of family.”

“Right. Well, we ought to be going.” And with that Fleamont grabbed James's hand and hurried past his acquaintance.”

“Whose that?” James asked his father when they were out of earshot.

“Orion Black - quite the influence at the Ministry lately."

James didn’t press the matter further. He knew that politics had gotten messy when the war started last year, so if his dad didn’t like Orion he probably had his reasons.

They met up with James’ mum, who was waiting for them by the Ice Cream Parlour. She insisted that James was in dire need of ice cream after such a taxing day of shopping. James did not argue that assessment.

\----

1st September rolled by. In all his eleven years of life, this was the day James had been looking forwards to the most. Today he would follow in his parents' footsteps and start Hogwarts - and be sorted into Gryffindor, of course.

For a young witch or wizard the opportunity to finally learn to control the force, that has been growing inside them since birth, was beyond exciting.

James was barely able to eat anything for breakfast that morning, which worried Mrs. Potter, whose concern for her only son seemed to have grown quite a bit now that his departure was approaching. James on the other hand was completely ready to leave for school even if it meant leaving his beloved childhood home.

James didn’t even flinch when he ran through the brick wall between the 9th and 10th platforms at Kings Cross Station. His mother and father followed close behind. They were met with a wonderful sight. The station was bustling with departing students and their families.

A lot of the older students were chatting eagerly with their dearly missed friends, catching up after an entire summer spent apart. Some younger kids were crying to their parents or siblings. In the center of the crowd was the bright red Hogwarts Express. Some had already claimed aboard and were waving or chatting to their loved ones through the open windows.

He turned his attention to the crowd. He wanted to see if he could spot any fellow first years. It wasn’t difficult to guess which of the children were leaving for the first time, as they usually stood close by their parents watching in awe.

All of a sudden James noticed someone familiar in the crowd as he saw the man his father had recognized in Diagon Ally, he was standing close by with people who James deemed must be his family, a woman who looked quite a bit like him, she has the same stern look. It's really quite a shame, he thought, She could have been quite pretty. James could barely make out their children but it seemed to be two boys.

He turned his attention back to his own parents, His mother had been (unsuccessfully) trying to smooth down his hair, and was now straightening his clothes whilst going on about how her baby boy was growing far too rapidly.  
After several hugs and kisses goodbye from his tearful mother, James was getting ready to board the train.

He looked back over at Orion and noticed one of the boys entering the train through the nearest door. James decided to follow him. Inside the train, compartments were lined up on the left and right side of a narrow hallway. James made his way past several student-filled compartments before finding what he was looking for. He recognized Orion’s son. Even for a wizard, he wore unusual clothes. On somebody else, his clothes might have looked overly regal and ridiculous but he bore them elegantly.

James opened the door and made his way inside the compartment. The other boy looked at him with a pair of striking light-grey eyes, he smiled politely and nodded at James.

“Hi,” James said

“Hello” the boy replied looking at James intrigued.

“I’m James Potter.” James held out his hand for the other boy to shake.

“Sirius Black,” Sirius grabbed James's hand and shook it.

James found Sirius to be unusually pleasant company, and he quickly found out that they seemed to share the same sense of humor. Perhaps he and his dad had just caught Orion at a bad time back in Diagon Ally? Either that or Sirius bore no resemblance to his father whatsoever. Either way, James found himself laughing constantly at Sirius’ jokes.

He barely acknowledged that the compartment was filling up with other students. Most were chatting excitedly among themselves, but one redheaded girl slipped silently through the door and sat down propped up against the window furthest from James. She was closely followed by a skinny boy with dark shaggy-looking hair.

James was in the middle of telling Sirius in great detail about how he once almost drove his muggle neighbor insane by placing stink pellets in his mailbox when he overheard the shaggy-looking boy raving to the girl about Slytherin house.

James turned around, “Slytherin?” He raised an eyebrow at the boy who looked rather confused as to why James had spoken to him. James rolled his eyes and continued,

“Who’d _voluntarily_ go to Slytherin?”

James turned and looked at Sirius,“I honestly think I would rather just leave, what you say?”

Sirius looked back at James for a second before he averted his gaze to the window,

“My whole family’s in Slytherin.” He shrugged.

“Blimey!” James said, even though he wasn’t all too surprised (Orion had seemed quite Slytherin-like), He smiled at Sirius, “Here I thought you seemed perfectly alright”

Sirius smiled slightly at him, “Maybe I’ll break the tradition. Where’d you go if you had your pick?”

“Gryffindor! Where dwell the brave at heart - like my dad!” He gestured as if he was swinging Godric Gryffindor’s sword - as only a true Gryffindor would.

The new boy let out a small scornful scoff.

James turned to look at him, “Got a problem with that ‘av you?”

“Not at all if you’d rather be brawny than brainy-“ “Oh so where do you think you’re going since you seem to be neither” Sirius interjected in James’ defense. James laughed loudly at his new friend's quick wit.

Now the redhead looked at both James and Sirius with a look of utter displeasure,

“Come on Severus, let’s find another compartment.” She grabbed her friend by the hand and got up.

“Uuuuuuh” James and Sirius both exclaimed sarcastically. James stuck out his leg to trip Severus, “See Ya, _Snivellus”_ He spat out as the girl slammed the door after herself.

The rest of the train ride was spent with Sirius making jokes at Severus’ expense. James particularly enjoyed Sirius’ take that Severus’ hair might be so greasy they won’t be able to get the sorting hat off his head.

“Maybe the hat will be so disgusted with him he just gets sent right back to live as a muggle?” James wondered. Sirius burst out laughing.

By the time they had arrived at the school James had already made up his mind that in the scenario where Sirius was unfortunate enough to become a Slytherin, he might be the only one in Slytherin's house worthwhile keeping as a friend.


	2. A prank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and his friends get sorted and play a lil prank :o)

At their destination, all the students were ushered out of the train into the mild September evening. It was slightly chilly but the excitement kept James warm. An unusually large man was bellowing at the crowd that first-years should follow him. James and Sirius ushered over to him along with all the other 11-year-olds. He introduced himself as gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid.

Hagrid let them to the shore of a giant black lake. Boats were lined up for the students to row all the way across to the castle. It was a beautiful sight. The lights from the magnificent castle lit up the night and mirrored beautifully on the surface of the lake. All the first years stared in awe as they were guided to their new school.

Waiting for them at the other side of the lake was a witch dressed in green robes, her black hair was slicked back into a pristine bun. She looked very well put together and as though she absolutely was not to be messed with. She was standing in front of a large wooden door with ornate metal detailing, with a roll of parchment in hand.  
“Greetings. My name is Professor McGonagall,” She addressed the crowd of first years, who had assembled at the bottoms of the steps leading to the door, “Welcome to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Inside these doors, you will study, learn and grow over the next seven years. In order for you to rise to your fullest potential, we have a sorting ceremony where you be given a house, that best caters to your individual goals, values, and personality. The houses are as follows, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.”

James nudged Sirius slightly at the mention of Slytherin, “I really think we ought to go together but I really don’t look good in green, mate” he whispered.

Sirius smirked at James, “Well red does _not_ bring out my eyes, so one of us will have to make a sacrifice here.”

James snickered. _Slytherin would be lucky as to get Sirius_. He thought

McGonagall turned around and faced the door, then she held out her wand, and with a small flick of her wrist, the doors sprang open.

James had heard both his parents describe the Great Hall, but words did not compare to seeing it in real life. He had never felt smaller as he entered the dining hall. Even for a child who had grown up with magic all around him, James had not seen anything like It. The room itself was impressive, beautifully decorated with ornate stone carvings covering the walls, large windows with gold details, and banners representing the four houses hanging from the impossibly high ceiling. The ceiling - _that_ was the best part. The enchanted sky, with lights floating high above them looking like stars were illuminating the hall. In the far end of the hall, leveled above the house tables were a long table where all the teachers sat overlooking the crowd of students. In the middle was the headmaster, he sat in a large gold chair, hoisted slightly above the rest of the teachers.

After the school song was sung, a hat was placed on a small stool in front of the first-years. James recognized it immediately - the sorting hat. Of course, the sorting hat was not just a regular hat. As soon as it was placed on the stool, it began singing,

_"At Hogwarts, I sort student short and tall  
_

_Are you Clever, Brave, Ambitious, or a friend at heart- I make the call  
_

_I have never met a soul I couldn’t read   
_

_Follow my judgment and greatness you shall achieve   
_

_Long ago I sat on a great founders head   
_

_Tonight I will fill my duty and sit on yours instead  
_

_For many years I have judged he who sits on my throoooone  
_

_Tonight I will help you find your hoooooome"_

That was the worst song James had heard in his life. He turned to Sirius and they shared a look of disapproval.

McGonagall unrolled her list of names and picked up the sorting hat from the stool and called upon the first student to be sorted,

“Abbott, Anne-Mary”

A small girl with brown hair and round cheeks went up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on her head. Within fifteen seconds Anne-Mary was declared a Ravenclaw.

“Argarwal, Adhar” - Hufflepuff

“Avery, Remil” - Slytherin

The list went on and eventually, Sirius was called,

“Black, Sirius!”

Whistles were heard from the Slytherin table. Sirius walked slowly to the seat. He looked completely composed. He had the best posture James had ever seen. As he sat down McGonagall placed the hat on his head. Her hand hovered above it as if she was ready to retrieve it back within a second. However, Sirius sat with the hat on his head for at least forty-five seconds. Finally, the hat roared,

“Gryffindor!”

A second of silence ensued, but then applause from Gryffindor's table. Most were clapping along normally but a few students in the different houses were nudging and whispering to each other. Some of the older Gryffindors were even waving at Slytherin's table, where there were some very intense whispering. James was very pleased with having Sirius in Gryffindor.

The next student was called and the sorting continued.

Eventually, the redheaded girl from the train was called, her name was Lily Evans apparently. She walked up nervously. The hat was placed on her head and she was promptly sorted into Gryffindor. James noted that she was actually quite pretty. James made sure to make note of all the Gryffindors, he would be closest to them after all. He watched as Dorcas Meadows, Marlene McKinnon, Mary McDonald, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew all, amongst others, became Gryffindors. Finally, it was his turn.

“Potter, James!”

He walked up to the stool confidently, he wasn’t even a little nervous. The hat was placed on his head. Its voice spoke inside James’ own head, _Well aren’t you a “_ Gryffindor!” The Gryffindor rang out in the great hall, and with applause from his new house, James could join Sirius at the Gryffindor table.

James found setting in at Hogwarts completely delightful, particularly because of his new dorm mates. He had enjoyed living at his parents' house very much, but as the only child to his elderly parents he sometimes missed the company of someone his own age, and in the dorm, he found just that. Sirius was there of course, in the bed right next to James’.

Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin had joined them as well and proved to be the perfect company. Remus was more reserved but Peter seemed as excited as James about their new living situation.

By the time the weekend rolled around, they had already accumulated a decent amount of homework, from their half-week of classes. Both he and Sirius had triumphed in charms when they managed to levitate their feathers into the air.

Frankly, the only new subject James wasn’t excited by was History of Magic. Learning about the Gargoyle strike of 1911 just didn’t compare to actually getting to practice magic. Sirius however insisted that the boringness came from the teacher, not the subject.

“There's actually some decent stuff in there if you ever wanna bother reading it,” Sirius gestured to James’ unopened edition of _A History of Magic_ laying on the coffee table in the common room _._

_“_ I tell you, the only way I’m reading it is if they put in a chapter about me.” James wrinkled his nose.

“Well, there's one about Ulric the Oddball… You might find you two have a lot in common”

“Argh shut up, why’s it gotta be _my_ problem _you_ fancy Bathilda Bagshot?”

“ _Please_ , Bathilda would be lucky to have me!” Sirius stuck his tongue out at James.

“Either way, I’m not doing this reading tonight.” James pushed his books into his book bag. No way he was spending his first Saturday night at Hogwarts doing _homework_.

“Great! not doing homework is one of my favourite things” Sirius followed suit.

James turned to Peter and Remus who were sitting across them, “What you say, shouldn’t we find something fun to do? Can’t be half boring in this castle.”

Peter nodded enthusiastically and Remus looked half-exasperated, half-intrigued. James chuckled, “Don’t worry mate, we’ll let you do the essay tomorrow - we just want you for the night.”

Remus’ scratched his temple “Can’t do it tomorrow. I-uh- I have to go home. My nan’s sick.”

He saw the worried look on James’ face and hurriedly continued, “Nothing serious! She just wants to see me.”

“Well, Sirius’ll do it for ya, won't you? He apparently loves the stuff.” James was half-joking and expected Sirius, who hated being told what to do, to snap at him. But to his surprise, Sirius didn’t object.

“Won’t take me long. I’ll do it.” He said indifferently.

“Brilliant!” James exclaimed.

“I don’t know…” Remus began, but James interrupted, “Black has _two_ essays to do, and you’d deny him a simple night of fun?” James said jokingly, “That’s almost _inhumane.”_ Remus's eyes widened slightly.

“Okay.” He sighed, “I’ll go-”

“Great!,” Peter jumped from his seat, “but-uh- what are we doing?”

“We should pay a visit to Binns’ classroom. Get some payback for that essay.” James said.

“What? No, no, no. We should not get _caught_ doing something like that in the first week.” Remus looked at him as if he had proposed a student uprising.

“Then we won't get caught,” Sirius smirked.

“How wouldn’t we get caught?”

“Show them, James.” Sirius’ eyes twinkled.

James knew exactly what he was referring to. He had shown his invisibility cloak to Sirius the very first night.

All of them fit under the cloak somewhat seamlessly. But moving four people as one unit would have to take some getting used to: 

“Ow, that’s my foot, Pete!”, “Black, your hair is in my mouth…” “don’t eat my hair- It’s my best feature!”, “No Potter you’re pulling to the left”

After some very strange practicing in their dorm room, they got enough of a hang of it to go unseen to the History of Magic classroom on the first floor.

Navigating the stairs normally was a challenge and it did not become easier doing it under the cloak. However, James was glad that they didn’t give up when they eventually made it to Binns’ classroom.

James reached out and turned the silver doorknob, “Of course it’s locked” He muttered.

“Wait. Let me do it,” Sirius pushed forward and tapped the end of his wand to the knob,

“Alohomora.”

  
James heard a small click and Sirius pushed the door open. “Huh, I didn’t expect that to work,” He said amused.

The room was filled with books but otherwise sparsely decorated. The desks stood lined up facing a big blackboard. Just being in there you could tell that nothing fun had ever happened there. The plan was simple, hide James’ sludge bombes in the most obscure places you could think of, set them off, disappear into the night, and hope Filch is in the other end of the castle.

The second the door closed they heard the loud cracks of 20 sludge bombs detonating at once.Luckily Filch seemed to be slow that night. They managed to get all the way to the portrait of the fat lady without being seen. And at the rate, they were moving under the cloak that was a miracle.

“Wooblestunk,” James said to the portrait and it swung open revealing the Gryffindor common room. It was rather late and the common room was sparsely populated at this time but they still headed to the dorm.

“I can’t wait to see what happens,” Peter said as they entered the already messy dorm room, “I don’t know if I can sleep tonight.”

“Well you better because I am exhausted,” James said, yawning.

When they woke up in the morning Remus was gone. His bed was empty and perfectly made.

James got dressed and the remaining three boys went down for breakfast in the great hall.

“When do you reckon he left?” Peter asked on their way down the stairs.

“Dunno, hope everything’s alright,” James didn’t know anything about Remus’ sick grandmother, but he figured that Remus leaving in the middle of the night wasn’t a good sign.

At breakfast, their work paid off. James heard a group of sixth years talking about how Binns had complained to Dumbledore that some marauder had broken into and violated his classroom. He had apparently found it unheard of that nobody had seen the perpetrator go to, or from, his classroom after curfew. James felt a swell of pride in his chest. They had done perfectly.

His triumph was interrupted as the swarm of post owls flew into the great hall. He recognized his own owl, it was a brown barn owl a little bit on the smaller side. It was carrying his usual letter from his mum. He skimmed it through. Same as usual, just his mother telling him how much she misses him.

“At this rate, I’m hoping mum gets herself a hobby soon,” James said whilst pouring himself another glass of orange juice. He looked up at Sirius who had also gotten an owl. He was staring blankly at the parchment in his hand.

“Alright there?” James chuckled with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, yeah fine.” Sirius shrugged, “They’re just surprised that I’m not in Slytherin, you know.”

“Well, they should be grateful. You landed in the house with the best Quidditch team! Well, it’ll be better once I’m on it- but still, Slytherin didn’t win a single game last season.”

“Huh- not a single one?” Sirius nodded slightly in approval, but he sounded rather indifferent.

“I can’t wait till we can join the quidditch team! What do you say, Pete, all four of us on the team? I reckon you’d make a brilliant seeker.”

Peter’s face lit up from James’ praise, but he shook his head, “No, I don’t think I’d be a good pick. I don’t really do sports.”

James remembered seeing Sirius’ father outside Quilty Quidditch Supplies, “What about you? Weren’t you shopping for Quidditch stuff?”

“What? no? Where have you got that idea from?” Sirius looked at him utterly puzzled.

“My dad recognized your dad when I went to the Quidditch supply store, I figured that meant you play.” James shrugged.

Sirius still looked skeptical, “Not really, my brother likes it more I think, but my parents hated it when we used to play …”

“That’s disappointing, really, I was hoping one of you lot could challenge me at quidditch.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow at him, “Well I never said I couldn’t.”

“Great! I have a whole day to prove you wrong!”

“I think you forgot you sold me out to write a history of magic essay today, mate.”

“Right I did do that. Sorry.”

“No no ’s fine really. Who would I be if I couldn’t even help my mate?”

“… If it was charms or something I’d do it, but history? I would rather die.“

“And we can’t have that now can we?” Sirius smiled at him and added, “You do owe me an essay though.”

“Okay, okay” James laughed. He felt a little guilty he put him up to it - but he had just been kidding after all.

James was actually impressed with the lengths Sirius went to write Remus’ essay for him. He compared handwriting and made sure to make it as good of a forgery as possible. When Remus came back the next morning, he too, was beyond grateful for Sirius’ essay. It took a while for Sirius to get him to actually accept the work, but eventually, he convinced him that it would be a waste of work if Remus didn’t turn it in.

Their first class of the week was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout had planned a lesson on Puffapods. To her disproval, Sirius quickly found out that since the beans would bloom instantly when in contact with any solid objects, throwing them at people was quite a laugh. When both he and James had covered each other in puffapod flowers, she decided to give them detention on top of subtracting twenty points from Gryffindor.

Then came History of Magic. To James’ disappointment, Binns didn’t even mention the attack on his classroom, he just babbled on about goblins (or something along those lines)

James ripped a small piece of parchment and wrote a note:

_BINNS HAVEN’T LEARNT HIS LESSON. MARAUDER MIGHT STRIKE AGAIN :)_

He passed the note to Sirius who nodded approvingly and passed it along to Peter. Peter smiled and passed it to Remus, who read it and shook his head, smiling.

James did not hear another word of the lesson. His mind was racing, trying to come up with the perfect prank for their next attempt.After what felt like forever the lesson ended and James followed his friends down to the great hall for lunch. During which they brainstormed for the perfect joke to pull.

“I want it to interfere with the lecture. Anything to save me from the boringness.” James said with a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

“I might know of something,” Sirius said, “We could sabotage his book.”

“His book?” Remus said thoughtfully, “... In what way?”

“You know a standard confetti-book …but then of course we should add our own touch.”

“Oh yeah, I like the sound of that!” Peter exclaimed, “He can’t read us to sleep then.”

“Yeah,” James nodded, “that could work.”

“So, should we plan tonight?” Remus asked.

“Can’t. James and I got detention, but you two can start and we’ll catch up.”

\---

Their punishment in detention was an evening of cleaning the Herbology greenhouse. Professor Sprout provided them with cleaning supplies, but no magic was allowed. The floor needed cleaning and she has given them buckets of soapy water to mop the floors with. This proved to be a mistake on her part when it turned out the combination of the stone floors, soap and water made the perfect sliding conditions.They made a game of it. They would run to pick up speed and then slide on their stomach as far as possible.

James’ eye caught some plastic pots stacked on a shelf, “We should try to see how many of these pots we each can knock over in one go.”

“Brilliant!”

Just as James was about to take his third turn, Professor Sprout came back to see their progress. She let out an audible gasp when she entered the greenhouse, which was in a worse condition than before.

“Never in my years of teaching have I experienced this level of disrespect!” She looked back and forth between the boys, “Clean this at once!”

It was well past midnight before they were done. They walked tired back to Gryffindor Tower, “At least we didn’t have to write lines.” James joked.

“Shut up.” Sirius shoved him lightly.

“Wonder if they will write our parents? I almost want them to, I think my dad would like the game we came up with.”

“Huh? You think they’d do that already?” Sirius’ brows knitted together

“Nah probably not,” James said. Then he remembered Sirius’ last letter, “are yours really not over you being in Gryffindor?”

Sirius looked at the ground thoughtfully for a second, “They really care a lot about that.” He bit his lip, “I think they’d imagined that I’d be more like them in Slytherin y’know.”

“I still don’t get why anyone would _want_ that? I mean I guess some people can’t help to be Slytherin, but why _want_ it?”

“Yeah they are really old-fashioned like that,” Sirius sighed.

Back in the dorm, the other boys were already asleep, so they went to bed quietly.


End file.
